Kia reveals all‑new Sportage

But then the Sportage has always been a favourite with UK car buyers. And the current model – said at its launch in 2015 to look a little downmarket – obviously still holds plenty of appeal for the price (from £24k), with one in every 10 mid-size SUVs in the UK bearing the Sportage badge.

The new one surely won’t get a hard time for appearing too plain. This is a car trying hard to impress. There is so much going on that if it gets a hard time for anything it will be for not looking much like any Sportage before it.

This is entirely deliberate, as Kia chief designer Karim Habib tells us: “With the all-new Sportage, we didn’t simply want to take one step forward but instead move on to a different level in the SUV class.” Design inspiration comes from the EV6 electric SUV.

There is still a suggestion of the “Tiger Nose” Kia front end, but the distinctive grille and simple shapes of old are gone, replaced by a wide new black grille intersected at both sides by boomerang-shaped daytime running lights.

An optional black roof, that increasingly popular SUV design cue, is a first for the Sportage, while also enhancing its far more athletic profile is the “deconstructed” C-pillar. There’s chrome trim for the rising beltline which kicks up to the fastback rear end with its wide strip of lights. All a bit more Lexus than Kia perhaps but undoubtedly more premium and powerful than the outgoing version.

The premiumness is being cranked up on the inside too with a panoramic curved display taking centre-stage on the dashboard. Touchscreen pad, 3D detailing, gloss finishes, vibrant colour choices and soft-touch switches are the order of the day here, along with cabin space and functionality said to be just as good as before.

For the first time, a specific European version of the Sportage is going to be produced and we will see that in September just before sales are due to begin. It’s unlikely it will look much different.

As for what’s under the skin, there’s no firm info on that yet but with so much of Kia’s recent success down to electrified models we can surely expect a range of petrol/electric hybrids.